Homeland Security chief: US growing complacent on terrorism
Michael Chertoff says Americans are 'starting to be unwilling' to make the needed sacrifices to repel attacks.
By David Cookposted June 21, 2007 at NaN:NaN p.m. EST
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Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is upbeat about the prospects for immigration legislation, worried by a growing complacency about terrorist threats, bemused by Washington's political culture, and dismissive of critics who say his department is unmanageable.
Mr. Chertoff was the guest at a Monitor-sponsored breakfast on Wednesday. The wiry former federal judge and US attorney is playing a key role in the Bush administration's negotiations with Congress on immigration-reform legislation along with Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez.
The back and forth between the two administration negotiators was on display Wednesday. After being whisked into the Sofitel Hotel by his Secret Service detail, Chertoff perched on a couch in the lobby and chatted with Secretary Gutierrez on a BlackBerry before meeting with reporters.
"I have the perhaps enviable, perhaps unenviable, opportunity to sit in the center of this firestorm and watch all the different attacks come in," Chertoff said of the immigration battle.
The secretary said he was "optimistic" that immigration legislation will clear Congress, given a willingness on both sides to compromise. "The essence of compromise is the recognition that the way to achieve something good for most people is for everybody to recognize they can't insist on a 100 percent win. It is going to have to be a win for everybody."
He was critical of those who say the best course of action is not to pass legislation dealing with those in the US illegally. "Lately what I have heard is, 'Well, just let them be; let them stay' – what George Will called benign neglect," Chertoff said. "I consider that a silent amnesty. I consider that a way of saying we really are going to let them stay but we are not going to be candid about it. We are not going to tell the American public that we are essentially giving [illegal immigrants] a de facto amnesty."
At the start of the breakfast, columnist and PBS commentator Mark Shields asked Chertoff if he regretted calling Sen. Edward Kennedy, an ally in the battle for immigration reform, "awesome." Mr. Shields quipped that it had made Chertoff the second-least-popular person among conservative bloggers, after Hillary Clinton.
"I am not a guy from Washington so I am always kind of fascinated by the weird culture of people in Washington politics," Chertoff responded. "I can disagree with someone but still respect their capabilities and I can like them personally.... I don't believe that disagreement has to lead to warfare and that people who have different political philosophies are your enemy.... I know who the enemy is. He is sitting in a cave over there in Pakistan."
While a relative newcomer, Chertoff appears to enjoy the Washington social scene. He was spotted Tuesday evening at the picnic President Bush hosted for members of Congress on the White House South Lawn. "The jambalaya was very good," Chertoff told reporters.
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